Change, what's the diff between the K612 pads and the standard K702 pads? I ask because I find the K702 pads to be the more comfortable than the Memory foams of the Annies, due to less heat buildup.

Apparently the more recent comparison between the Annie and K712 are stating that they sound identical (via side by side comparison), leading me to believe that the Annies must have changed to K712 memory foam instead of the older flat ones, which may have given all the differences between them.

The standard K702 pads and K612 pads are made of the same material, with the K702 pads being thicker and angled. Sonic differences between them are added bass and soundstage (w/ K702 pads) for a trade off in mids in sparkle (w/ K612 pads). The differences aren't dramatic, but noticeable enough to prefer one over the other...

As for recent comparisons between Annie and K712, they may or may not be correct. Remember, chico compared the two and confirmed the pads were not what accounted for the difference in sound between the two. Then again, everyone hears different....

I, myself, did not have the two at the same time. I did, however, compare each to the Mad Dogs (as a reference) when I had them... and did notice a difference in the upper mid range section that chico spoke of. The K712's uper mids were a bit smoother/less grainy than that of the Annie. That was the only difference I noticed, though.... but that was without having them side by side.

yes. Onboard is disabled. I am using original drivers from Asus site. heard about those unified drivers. Is that latest version on the site? Do I need to delete original drivers in a specific way?

What if I wanted to drop DH on console and just wanted to decode optical into analog headphones ?

What would be recommended DAC/external sound card then ? Maybe I could get everything in one bag and buy something like x-fi hd or one of external xonar cards for the job? Something that Could be used passively on console (with power from USB on console or outlet, without pc running on) and also be a dac or sound card for pc. u7? omni? x-fi hd? or others?

Or stay with Xonar DG on PC (or something else if its bad) and just get some simple DAC for PS4 like D03 which just converts optical ?

what about turtle beach dss/dss2 ?

Delete the Asus drivers, might also use CCleaners or Wise Disk cleaner to make sure there is no leftover Asus software.

Then install the latest version of Unified Xonar Drivers.

I'm really not sure how much it might help, but it's free to try.

I guess you should be able to find a used Turtle Beach DSS for a low price.

Otherwise I'm not sure what external sound card (Omni or U7 or other) would work with a gaming console.

Omni & U7 only accept surround input through USB... so they only work in stereo or "enhanced" stereo for consoles.

For surround with consoles, you have The options listed in my "if I knew then..." thread. For what it's worth, a "like new without original packaging" turtle beach DSS can be bought on eBay USA for $30 (which includes cables).

Thanks for help. New xonar drivers seem ok for now. Didn't had enough time to test yet. So, why do I want a dss and not dss2? and that is the only option besides mixamp for true dolby headphone on console? And If I just want normal stereo from optical on console then one of fiio products?

will dss also work on pc? Would it be better than my xonar as a soundcard and dolby headphone device ?